


Getting Used To Mortality

by Cat2000



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Collection: Purimgifts Day 1, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:08:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28837554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cat2000/pseuds/Cat2000
Summary: Disclaimer: I don’t own anything from the movie The Old Guard and I’m not making any money from this ficSummary: Nile helps Andy with an injury and the two bond a little more
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4
Collections: Purimgifts 2021





	Getting Used To Mortality

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rubynye](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rubynye/gifts).



> Warning(s): Minor spoilers for the movie; some descriptions of a wound; references to violence

“Need some help there?”

Andy glanced up at Nile, as the other woman stood with her feet slightly apart, bracing herself for balance on the vibrating floor of the helicopter. It was a far cry to the first helicopter ride they’d taken together.

For one thing, if they crashed _this_ time, Andy wouldn’t just walk away from the wreckage. At least not unscathed. But she hadn’t escaped unscathed from this last mission either. The others tried to protect her, but she was beginning to wonder if they might consider her a liability. If they needed to look at protecting her on every mission they went on….

Well. She’d thought about retiring before the last mission. Perhaps now it was time to think about making that a reality.

“Andy?” Nile took a step forward, eyes narrowing in concern as her eyes moved over the gash in Andy’s shoulder.

It was still bleeding sluggishly, but the cut felt hot and inflamed. Andy couldn’t see it properly, but what she _could_ see of it, the skin around the wound looked red. And it was weeping. She recognised the signs of infection, having seen it long before the advances of medicine meant that infected wounds could be easily treated.

Andy looked up at Nile, catching the other woman’s eye, and nodded. “It needs to be cleaned out.” She took a small flask from her belt and held it out to Nile. “This one’s pure alcohol. It’ll do the job.”

Nile stepped forward slowly and took the flask. She looked down at it and then up into Andy’s eyes. “You need a hospital.”

Andy snorted softly and looked away, not wanting to see it when Nile poured the alcohol onto her wound. “No hospitals. They’re not a good idea for our kind.”

“But you’re not immortal anymore.” Nile knelt on the floor and pulled the shirt’s strap entirely free of the gash. “Whatever makes us this way, it’s not going to show up in any tests a hospital might run. Right?”

Andy didn’t watch the alcohol being poured onto the wound, but she certainly _felt_ it. She gritted her teeth at the pain that sizzled through her, then reached for the other flask she carried. Opening it, she drank down the contents that burned her throat. But she didn’t finish it all. She needed her wits about her. “I can’t be certain my blood won’t still show some kind of anomaly. If cleaning and stitching the wound doesn’t work, I’ll consider my next move then.”

“You don’t have to do this anymore, you know.”

Andy allowed herself a soft hiss as Nile began stitching the wound, but that was the only outward sign she gave that it hurt. She still wasn’t used to the wounds that lingered, but she _was_ used to pain. And she’d gone through a lot worse than just having an infected wound cleaned out and then stitched up.

Of course, in the past, she hadn’t had to worry about any of those injuries killing her.

Andy looked at Nile, noticing that the other woman was frowning in concentration as she stitched the wound. “You’re suggesting I retire?”

“Haven’t you ever thought about it?” Nile looked into her eyes. “What you’d do if you could live a normal life?” She looked away. “I wish I could change places with you. If I could go back to my life the way it was….”

“You can’t think like that,” Andy replied. “Wishing that your path is different won’t change anything. You need to accept that your life is different now.”

“I know. And I have.” Nile straightened up. “There. It’s done.” She paused and then asked, “Did you ever wish things could have been different? Did you ever wish that you could have lived a normal life?”

It was tempting to refuse to answer. Or to lie. Say that she’d never hoped or wished for anything different. That the path she’d taken was the one she’d accepted. Letting her head drop back against the helicopter wall, Andy took a few moments before she decided to answer the question honestly. “When Quynh was taken from me.” She shrugged. “I tried everything I possibly could to find her. Before I found the others, I thought…what would it be like if I died? If I died, for real, I couldn’t search for her anymore. It wouldn’t be _my_ fault if death finally took me. I wouldn’t have to face her and explain why I’d never been able to save her.”

“But you never gave up.”

“The ocean’s a big place. And I didn’t search nearly as much of it as I could have done.” Andy looked away. “If it was the other way around, Quynh would have found me.”

“You loved her,” Nile said quietly.

“I don’t think there’s a word that exists in any language for what we were to each other,” Andy admitted. “For so long, it was just us. That creates a bond far more intense than family. Than romance.” She stood up. “Perhaps my mortality is punishment for failing her. But I won’t fail anyone else again,” she added. “I might not be immortal anymore, but I haven’t lost centuries of experience and training.”

Nile moved to Andy’s side and looked into her eyes. “You never failed anyone and you _won’t_ fail anyone.” She frowned. “I just hope that I did enough for that injury.”

“It doesn’t even hurt anymore.”

“Liar.”

Andy chuckled softly. “I’ve had worse pain.” She glanced at the pilot and then picked up her parachute, putting the pack on her back. “If you’re ready, I think we can go now. Regroup with the others.” She pulled her gun free of its holster and cocked it. “Ready?”

“Ready.” Nile strode towards the exit.

Andy joined her a second later and the two prepared to jump.

** The End **


End file.
